What We Studied

We dove into our third year of homeschooling with Arthur entering 3rd grade and Quentin entire kindergarten. This first week was all about attempting to figure out our weekly schedule. We have to work in coop on Thursday morning, art class on Thursday afternoon, physics with friends on Wednesday afternoon, and a weekly field trip. I’m attempting to decide if we will be doing art class and field trips weekly or on a different schedule. I’m still thinking about that. As for the curriculum itself, we dove right in and accomplished a ton this week.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur started Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll for his ELA read aloud. To go along with the text itself, Blossom and Root Grade 3 Language Arts gives us a ton of activities and creative projects to go along with the text. We will be reading this for two more weeks. He also has a weekly poetry selection. We also started our Myths and Maps extra curriculum from B&R. We began covering creation stories from around the world. One last item, we finished reading The Penderwicks in time for coop book club on Thursday evening. Only one other family joined us, but we chatted about the book for awhile before the kids scampered off to the playground.

• Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

• Nat Geo Book of Nature Poetry

• In the Beginning by Virginia Hamilton

• The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall

Quentin has a mixed week. We started with a few books related to traveling the world (preview of our social studies curriculum). He also covered the Blossom and Root Kindergarten Language Arts week dealing with names and the importance of identity.

• How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World by Marjorie Priceman

• Johnny Appleseed: A Tall Tall retold by Stephen Kellogg

• Alma and How She Got Her Name by Juana Martinez-Neal

• Your Name is a Song by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow

• The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi

• Me and My Family Tree by Joan Sweeney

• High Five Intro Issue

• Rocket Finds an Egg by Tad Hills (Quentin read)

• Rocket’s Very Fine Day by Tad Hills (Quentin read)

• Nat Geo Book of Animal Poetry

Math

For both boys, we have scheduled math for three days a week. One day is focused on logic, games, puzzles, and special projects. The two other days are focused on covering the main math curriculum (Singapore 4A and 4B for Arthur and Singapore 1A and 1B for Quentin). This week Arthur and I played a Pirate themed place value game. I also found a fun packet of logic puzzles based on Alice in Wonderland. We will be spreading these out over our reading of the text.

• Logic Liftoff (Arthur)

• Singapore 4A

• Tyrannosaurus Math by Michelle Markel

• Tinkeractive Math Kindergarten

Social Studies

Arthur started his large study of United States history using a combination of Build Your Library Level 5 and History Quest United States History. We covered an introduction to Native American history and a general geography review. We also started some great resources for stories from Native American societies. Arthur did a short research project about the Omaha and Ponca tribes as we live on their ancestral land.

• If America were a Village by David J. Smith

• The Scrambled States of America by Laurie Keller

• A Kid’s Guide to Native American History by Yvonne Wakim Dennis

• An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

• The Earth Under Sky Bear’s Feet: Native American Poems of the Land by Joseph Bruchac

• Turtle Island: The Story of North America’s First People by Eldon Yellowhorn and Kathy Lowinger

• What the Eagle Sees: Indigenous Stories of Rebellion and Renewal by Eldon Yellowhorn and Kathy Lowinger

Quentin began his study of the world with Build Your Library Level 0. We covered the basics of the world with a close look at maps the globe. He worked through some activities and completed most of the introduction box from Atlas Crate. He also prepped his world passport for our studies.

• The World is Waiting for You by Barbara Kerley

• Our Earth by Anne rockwell

• Exploring by Alain Gree

• Me on the Map by Joan Sweeney

• Nat Geo Beginner’s World Atlas

• DK Countries of the World

• DK First Earth Encyclopedia

• DK Children Just Like Me

• DK Children Just Like Me; A School Like Mine

• My Bed: Enchanting Ways to Fall Asleep Around the World by Rebecca Bond

Arthur Independent Time

We are working on following a checklist in a planner for weekly independent work. There’s usually some math workbook pages, an ELA packet, weekly writing prompts (1-2 times a week), independent reading time, and a special creative project. Beyond the paperwork, Arthur made an Alice puppet and worked on his board game. .

Science

Arthur is focusing on Physics this year. We are covering the text and related videos at home and then joining friends for experiments and extra projects. The first week was an introduction to the realm of physics and a review of the scientific method. We also started The Study of Science, which we will be slowing moving through the first book over the entire year. We wrapped up the week with a documentary about our human ancestors (NOVA S36 E15 Becoming Human Episode 3: Last Human Standing).

• Where Did We Come From by Chris Ferrie

• RSO Physics

• The Story of Science: Aristotle Leads the Way by Joy Hakim

Quentin will be focusing on animal science with BYL Level 0. We did a small introduction of animals across the world. Next week we will dive in more.

• Nat Geo Wild Animal Atlas

• DK Animal

• Lonely Planet: The Animal Book

• The Tarantula in My Purse by Jean Craighead George

STEAM Coop

Coop started with a crowd! Seriously,, we had about 43 kids come to the first meeting of the semester. The oldest group (4th-8th grade) had 20 kids by itself! All three groups learned a bit about the layers of the Earth (more in-depth for the oldest kids obviously) and then make models of the layers of the Earth using Model Magic Clay. Some of the kids really got into adding their green continents as accurately as possible. I loved the attention to detail! Of the 8 new families that came, 2 have already officially joined us! Next week, we will be continuing with the geology theme.

Art/Music/Crafts/Cooking

We’re planning one doing on art project and one cooking project each week as well as picking a composer or musician to listen to and enjoy. This first week we scrapped the intended craft project of making a carved apple doll for an apple taste test and scientific observation. I just knew that I would end be be the one doing the entire apple doll and wanted to give the kids something hands on. While doing our apple taste test, we enjoyed listening to a variety of composition from Beethoven. We even went on a Fifth Symphony deep dive and listened to about 20 different variations of the piece. I really liked the Bossa Nova version. Arthur liked the organ version, and Quentin like the marching band version. Lots of fun with that one! My goal is definitely to keep this light and fun.

At coop art class, the boys learned about landscapes featuring a background, middle ground, and foreground. They then created their own versions. A nice low-key art class was just what we needed.

Field Trip

None this week due to my Monday afternoon to Tuesday morning migraine.

High

• We loved getting back with our coop friends for a fun session (and art class and book club). We missed them so much on our mini summer break.

Low

• I overloaded the curriculum a bit this week. I knew the first week would be a bit rough in terms of the schedule. Hopefully next week will be better balanced.

Next Week

• Continuing to read Alice in Wonderland (A)

• Figuring out more logic puzzles (A)

• Learning about Native American cultures (A)

• Moving on to Density and Water Displacement for Physics (A)

• Reading some animal stories (Q)

• Starting The Very Very Far North (Q)

• Covering Biomes and Ecosystems of the World (Q)

• Covering geology for coop

• Introducing the art of John Singleton Copley

• Starting The Beast of Buckingham Palace for coop book club

• Listening to Bach or Mozart - haven’t decided which exactly

Next up on the TBR pile: